Monday, October 25, 2010

Halloween Decor~

I know that I promised that my next blog post would be about the things I sent to Mary for our one-on-one swap but I thought I better show you my Halloween displays before Halloween was over! For the first time ever, I decorated early for Halloween this year. It's really just the family room that got the treatment...the other rooms are all filled with craft fair projects in varying degrees of completion! (Oh yeah, I confess, if someone walked into our house right now, they would think it had been ransacked by intruders!) Anyway, here are my prized pieces...

First is our mantel...

This cute and stylish witch was made by Mary Lou of the House of Whimsey. She has an Etsy store but it hasn't been stocked for a while because Mary Lou has been busy creating magic for her lovely daughter's recent wedding. Most of you know and love Mary Lou but if you're not familiar with her, visit her blog and spend 3 or 4 hours there reading her posts....she is an awesome designer and crafter and has amazing ideas for just about anything! I love to see her displays that she creates in her home...over the top cute!! Anyway, last year she made and sold these great witches and because I don't like gory and scary, this witch suited me just fine!

Then we move on to this print by Lori at Goody, Goody, Gumdrops. Last year I purchased several prints from Lori's Etsy store. I love her style. You can find her seasonal prints and so much more if you visit her Etsy store here...

The decorated bottle in front of the candle was made by my friend Michele at Create A Way. She does really fun and funky art and if you stop by her blog, you will see that she shares great downloads you can have for free, like these. She has just started to post again, which I am happy to see, and it looks like she's also signed up to participate in Elizabeth's ﻿Peppermint Swap. The black felt tree is the one I purchased at The Cottage, which I wrote about here.

At the right end of the mantel is my Larkspur Lane witch and my Lori Mitchell trick-or-treater and another fabulous piece, the stacked pumpkins, by Michelle Palmer. Her art is just fabulous and the detail of each little piece is amazing! I have purchased many pieces from Michelle's Etsy store, found right here. She works in a variety of art medias and everything she creates is gorgeous!!!

Hanging on the front of the mantel is a Halloween garland I made using digital images designed by the famous and wonderful Debrina Pratt. I purchased these banner pieces from Debrina's Etsy store here. I cut scalloped banner pieces from black cardstock using the Cricut and then smaller cantaloupe triangle shaped pieces to mat the images with. In between each banner piece is a scalloped circle piece with the letters spelling EEEK. Not too scary but pretty cute I thought.

The layered badges on the two banner pieces with the fleur de lis, were made using a font. I wrote about that here. This was an easy, fun project. I rarely make things for our home...usually, they're going out the door in a swap or as a gift for someone.

OK...on to the top of the linen press...

Here is the Halloween banner that was made by the talented swappers who participated in Elizabeth's Spooktacular Banner Swap. This is a magnificent banner and the girls who designed and created their sections are so talented!! This really is a treasure!

and a cute squirrel, named Edith Ann, who was designed and created by my uber-talented niece Wendi, of Enchanted Forest Crafts on Etsy. I have lots more to write about Wendi...but I will do that later on a separate post....and also talk a bit about the original Edith Ann, for whom this squirrel girl was named!! I will see Wendi at the end of this week and view all of her new creations in person.

Can't wait to see her!!

This post turned out to be much longer than I originally intended and I'm sorry if some of you drifted off to sleep. I've given you links to lots of fun and interesting places to visit and some amazing Etsy stores. Please take time to visit and you'll see why I love them. I try to Buy Handmade whenever I can.

Now I promise that the next post will feature the things I sent to Mary in our swap.

13 comments:

Hi Joyce,Such wonderful Halloween cuteness displayed in your lovely home. It is fabulous that you purchased so many gorgeous items from such creative and talented people, rather than at a chain store. Kuddos to you! Have a wonderful week, my friend.Maureen

Oh Joyce,How fun!!!!! For some reason I don't have much Halloween out this year.....I guess I got busy and forgot that bin! But I have my Halloween banner that we all worked on and a few other things......I am excited that Halloween si almost here because that means the holidays have offically started!!!! How are you feeling????? I hope wonderful! Love you! Sandy PS Say hi to Barb for me! Still haven't talke dher into a blog, huh????? :)

Hi Joyce,It's all lovely handmade Halloween treasures! It's a great mantle. Love the banner.I'll be mailing the tin tomorrow...now that the girlfriend weekend is over and I'm getting back into my "routine"!warmly,deb :)

Oh Joyce ~ Your Halloween decorations are wonderful and fun. I was so busy making cards that I didn't even get my decorations out. Yourblog is so full of fun links which I enjoyed visiting. I haven't been keeping up with my blog; I will get an October blog in by the end of the week.Thank you for sending your friends over to take a peek at Thyme to spare.I really liked your post on our swap. I'm honored that you thought my gifts were worthy of a post. I am enjoying all your wonderful gifts. Getting ready to bake cupcakes on Friday!

I love how you've decorated with mostly homemade goodies, they look wonderful! Such a fun time of year!

I just read your comment on my blog, asking if your "W" was missing in my banner. It's there! The flash from my camera made it disappear! So sorry, I had the hardest time taking a picture of it! I love it, and it really does look great all together doesn't it?

Joyce, I love decorating posts best of all. You banner is so elegant, so you! I can start out hoping for such results but somehow always end up taking a cute right hand turn. The woodland squirrel is something so me! I can't wait to hear more. Have fun with all your projects! E

Your Halloween decor is a lot of fun, Joyce! I see we have Michelle Palmer's pumpkins in common! I had purchased three different sizes of those drawings and have no idea what there final place will be, but I like your idea of just using them against a candle holder or other item to show them off. I also did a last minute banner, but not being as patient and creative with paper as you, I bought a banner kit at Michael's the other night. It does have a look of being crafted and I think that's what I liked about it.

The Halloween Banner from the swap looks great! I was following along on Elizabeth's blog as she would get a new one in and add it to the others.

What a fun post! So much to see and all sorts of great links!I'm not a lover of scary Halloween either so I thin your Halloween decorations are absolutely perfect! The banners are adorable ~ love all the bright colors. Edith Ann is adorable. Your niece is VERY talented!!